“We’re impressed,” said Gill to the several dozen Shanghai media members in the room regarding the size of the poster. “This makes us feel welcome.”

That’s become the theme of the San Diego Symphony’s “Friendship Tour.” The orchestra flew from Yantai to Shanghai Monday, where it will perform tonight with Joshua Bell at the Art Center.

After being treated royally in Yantai, where the media constantly followed the orchestra, many of the musicians expected they’d be just another attraction in Shanghai.

They were the most accomplished U.S. symphony orchestra to perform in Yantai, San Diego’s sister city; they are one among many orchestras from all over the world in Shanghai.

The 2013-14 “12 Maestros Series” at the Arts Center, in addition to Ling and San Diego, includes Esa-Pekka Salonen and the (London) Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, among others.

But it’s Ling who is on the cover of the Art Center’s glossy, monthly magazine, along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composer Tan Dun.

“It’s three Chinese musicians who are accomplished,” Ling said. “Of course, Yo-Yo Ma is one of the greatest musicians in the world; Tan Dun is the most famous Chinese composer. And I’m the only conductor of Chinese descent who is a music director in the U.S., even in Europe.

“They have a certain kind of pride in that; there’s a connection.”

Ling pointed out his first performance as a guest conductor in China was with the Shanghai Symphony in 1995. He now frequently conducts in China, and one of the two questions at the news conference was what he brings with him when he conducts a Chinese orchestra.

Ling is well-versed in the European classical music tradition, and he said he tries to instill that tradition in Chinese musicians. Many Chinese musicians have high-level technical skills but may lack stylistic insight into the music.

The other question, according to Ling, was what kind of orchestra he is building in San Diego. Was he trying to build another Cleveland Orchestra, given his long association with Cleveland?

“I said I’m not here to create another Cleveland; I’m here to do what’s best for the San Diego Symphony,” Ling said. That involves developing the flexibility and precision to perform any repertoire.

“Of course, you always have a higher goal and everything, but I feel we’ve come to a period after nine years where we have something,” said Ling, now in his 10th season with the orchestra. “And we want to let the world hear it.”

The world’s response so far, halfway through the six-concert tour (including Carnegie Hall)?